The Disappearing Act
by Oliver McFly
Summary: The Lab Rats never knew their mother and were too young to remember her, so they automatically assumed she was gone. No questions were asked and everything was fine—until their past is brought up again due to a school project. Things only get worse when Douglas seems to think she's back—but is it really her? Or is it just an act? Adopted from Stardust16.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi guys, I adopted this story from my friend Star, whose username is now TheFlannelFeather. Here it goes:_

Bree Davenport sat in her social studies class, drumming her fingers on the desk, trying to make time pass faster. There were only five minutes left and this was her last class of the day. She couldn't wait for school go be over, especially since there were only three weeks left until summer vacation!

"For your end of the year project, you will do some research on your family history. Your mom and dad, your siblings, ancestors, all that kind of stuff, and you will do a presentation, write an essay and present it to the entire class." the teacher—Mrs. Hills—announced.

Bree raised her hand, yet didn't wait on Mrs. Hills to call on her before she spoke. "What if you don't know your mother?" She asked.

"Miss Davenport, I appreciate it if you wait your turn," Mrs. Hills answered, "If you don't know your mom or dad, then this is the perfect time to research them. You could either do that or include your stepmom, though I would prefer the former." She had then turned to the rest of the class. "You will have a week and a half to complete your project. Use your time wisely—I recommend you get started tonight—and I will see you all soon."

The bell then rang and everyone gathered up their things and left. Bree had gone to her locker to the gather the rest of her things, only to find her brother's waiting for her.

"Hey, Bree" Chase greeted as he waved at his sister, "Ready for training?"

"Oh, actually" the bionic girl said as she took out her iPhone and glanced at it, "Davenport called me earlier and told me he had to cancel. Something went wrong at the NASA meeting and he's going to be a few hours late, so we get the night off, which I can use to work on my project!"

"What kinda project?" Adam asked, "Is it about llamas? I love llamas!"

"Is that why you stole one from Deerfield?" Leo asked, reminding his older brother about the incident.

"In my defense, they should not have a llama running around campus like that! The poor thing didn't even have a collar one and it was in a big box with walls! What did you expect me to do? Leave it there?!"

"That big box with walls was a pen" Chase corrected.

"Anyway" Bree interrupted, turning all the attention back on her, "It's a project about our family tree. I have to show our ancestors, aunts, uncles and…" Bree hesitated before continuing, "Our mom and dad."

Suddenly, everything got really quiet and nobody said anything for a while. A few minutes later, Chase spoke up, jumping right back into the previous conversation.

"Bree, you know we're not supposed to talk about her. Even if we do ask about her, Mr Davenport won't be back till late and it's not like Douglas is going to give us the answers."

"I know, but…" Bree stopped for a minute as she shut her locker and the four of them started heading out, "Haven't you guys ever wanted to know who she was? Don't tell me that you've never been curious about her—especially you, Chase, because I know you were trying to research her when you were younger. Davenport might not have known, but I did"

"I…I don't want to talk about this, Bree" the youngest bionic whispered. "We shouldn't be talking about this, anyway. It's dangerous"

"But haven't ever—"

"No, I haven't Bree! I've had dreams, but that's about it, okay?! We're never going to find anything, so we might as well just give up before we even try!"

"Chase—"

"No, Bree, just leave it alone!" The youngest bionic had then turned in his heels and started walking in a different direction.

"Dude, where are you going?!" Leo yelled, nervous and worried.

"Nowhere!" Chase yelled back, "Leave it alone!"

"But you have to be going somewhere!" Adam protested, "It's not possible to be walking to nowhere!"

Bree sighed and shook her head. 'It's only been half an hour since I received that stupid project and it's already tearing my family apart.' "Guys" she interrupted, "Leave him alone. If he's not back till dinner, we'll tell Tasha and Douglas what happened, okay? There's no use in going after him now; He can't hear us and he'll just ignore any calls."

"Fine" Adam agreed, "But I don't like this, Bree. He's our brother, we should go and look for him before it gets too dark"

"I guess I agree with you" Leo said as he sighed. He glanced around and noticed hey we're only three blocks from home, "But I'm too sad to walk." Leo stared at Bree, waiting for her to get the hint.

"No." The middle bionic stated, "Im not your personal taxi."

"Please, Bree? The faster we get home, the less questions my mom will ask and then you can work on your project and we can go shopping afterwards"

Bree's eyes lit up as soon as shopping was mentioned.

"Grab on, losers!" She cheered gleefully. She grabbed her brother's wrists and without a few seconds, they arrived back at home.

* * *

"Hey, guys" Tasha greeted as she walked into the kitchen and started mixing the pot on the stove, "How was school?"

"School was good," Bree answered as she texted her friend Miranda, from her spot on the couch. She had then glanced up and checked the time. "Is dinner almost ready, Tasha?"

"Almost, honey" she answered. She had then noticed Adam and Leo, deeply concentrated on their video game. She frowned as she noticed somebody was missing. "Where's Chase?"

This captured Adam and Leo's attention. "Chase," Leo started, "Well, you see, he's actually, um—"

"He's at the library" Bree explained. She then checked the time and saw it was almost eight o' clock.

"But the library closes at six." Tasha protested, "And it's starting to get dark out. Chase knows he's supposed to be back home by five thirty"

All three teens glanced at each other and Adam decided to tell Tasha the truth. She was right; It was starting to get dark out and if Chase wasn't back by tomorrow—which was a major possibility—he knew they'd be suspicious, and definitely worried.

"We don't know where he is" Adam announced, "Him and Bree had a conversation as we were walking home and he got so upset, he walked away from us. We don't know where he is, Tasha, we're really sorry."

"Well, I'm glad one of you decided to be responsible" she said as she glared at the two other teens, "But now is not the time to be angry. I'll call Donald and get him back here. After that, Douglas, Donald and I will be going out to look for Chase—and Bree, because of your speed, you will definitely be coming with us." She had then turned to look at Adam and Leo, "You two will stay back here in case Chase comes back, okay? Until we all return, I don't want anyone to be doing anything else—no going out, no texting, no video games, nothing. Understood?"

"But then what will we do while we stay back here?!" Adam cried.

"Homework" Tasha replied, "You are only allowed to use phones when your contacting either Douglas, Donald, Bree or I. Other than that, there's no use for them. Adam's in charge while I'm gone, okay?"

"Why is Adam in charge?!" Leo shouted.

"Because he told me the truth," Tasha insisted, "When you do that, Leo, then maybe I can trust you." She had then spun on her heels and left the room, presumably to go find Douglas.

* * *

"Alright, would anyone like to tell me why Chase is missing?!" Douglas said loudly but not angrily as he came into the room, "What happened?!"

"I thought Tasha told you?" The middle bionic spoke.

"She did" Douglas answered, "But I want to hear it from you three. What happened?!"

Bree sat up and put her phone down. "Before school ended, my social studies teacher, Mrs. Hills, gave the class a project; basically, we have to research our family history. Aunts, uncles, ancestors and our mom and dad—"

"Oh," Douglas whispered quietly as his face fell, "Well, please, continue"

"I-I asked Chase if he ever wondered who she was. He admitted he had dreams, but that's about it, and after I pushed him too hard, he got really mad and left us standing on the sidewalk. We didn't try to look for him because we knew he couldn't hear us and if we tried to call him, it'd just go straight to voicemail." Bree had then felt tears forming in her eyes and nearly broke down crying. "I-I'm really sorry, Douglas. Please, don't be mad at me, Adam or Leo! I'm sorry, I-I am. I just don't want Chase to get h-hurt because we left him out t-there!"

"Bree, relax, I'm not mad at you, guys" Douglas assured as he comforted his daughter. Adam and Leo watched the scene unfold in front of them, unsure of what to do. "A little disappointed, yes, but I could never be angry. Me and Donnie had fights like these all the time when we were younger."

"But what if he doesn't come back? What if they can't find him?" Leo questioned.

"Guys, I can promise you Chase will be found, one way or another" Douglas assured them as he stood up from the couch and released Bree from his grip, "Now, I'm going to go out and start looking for him, okay? I'll be back in half an hour" Douglas had then spun on his heels, grabbed a jacket and a flashlight, and headed out the door.

* * *

Outside, it was dark, almost pitch black. The only light source was the street lamps and the flashlight Douglas carried. Nobody was expected to be out tonight, since it was extremely dark, so it was a surprise when Douglas saw a woman with golden brown hair and a jean jacket draped over her shoulders, carrying what appeared to be groceries.

"Hello!" Douglas called as he shown the light in her direction and began to approach her, "Have you seen my son?" He took out his phone and clicked on a picture of Chase. "Here he is," He continued, "Right here, the short one with brown hair."

"I'm sorry," The woman spoke, "I-I don't, I-I haven't seen…" the woman had then suddenly, surprising Douglas, dropped her groceries, wrapped the jean jacket tight around her shoulders and took off running.

"What the—" Douglas had then thought of something and he became even more confused than he already was, "Christiana?!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Any luck finding Chase?" Bree asked as she watched Donald, Tasha and Douglas come in.

"Nothing" Douglas sighed, sadness evident in his voice, "But I did see a woman while I was out there searching…" He took a deep breath before continuing, "And I think she may be your mother…"

Bree gasped as Adam stared at his father and Leo was now intrigued by the conversation. "What did she look like?" The oldest bionic asked.

"She had long golden brown hair," Douglas described, "It was about the same shade of Bree's, maybe a bit lighter. I'm not sure what colour her eyes were since it was dark, but she had pale skin, soft pink lips and she wore a jean jacket over her shoulders."

"Do I—Do I look like her?" The bionic girl asked, hopefully.

Before Douglas had a chance to answer, Donald cut in. "Guys, it's too late to talk about this now," He interrupted, "It's almost midnight, we should all get to bed."

"But—"

"No, Bree. It's far too late to speak of this. Get to your capsules and go to sleep." Donald insisted. Bree, knowing she wasn't going to win the fight, sighed defeatedly and left, Adam following her downstairs, and Leo went his separate ways, upstairs, to his own room.

As soon as the three teens left, Douglas started yelling. "Why'd you do that?!" He shouted, "We've kept it a secret from them since they were born! They deserve to know!"

"I don't want them to get their hopes up," Donald admitted, "I don't want them to be full of hope and then get their soul crushed. They don't deserve, need or want that."

"Yeah, but—"

"Douglas, we already know what happened that night. I'm—We're doing this to protect them, alright?"

"But what if what happened that night isn't what really happened that night?"

"Um, guys?" Tasha interrupted, making the two glance surprised in her direction since they completely forgot she was there, "It's getting late, and—"

"O-Of course" Davenport agreed. He had then glanced in his brother's direction and offered him a half smile. "See you tomorrow, Douglas"

"What?! D-Donnie, this is not over!" Douglas shouted, "Come back here, we have to discuss this!" But it was too late as Donald was already gone, and, unknowingly to them, Bree was watching the entire thing.

* * *

The bionic girl had sped back into the lab, pulled open her brother's capsule and shook him awake. "Adam! Adam!" She called, "Adam, you need to wake up!"

Finally, a response came. "But I don't wanna!" The oldest bionic whined, "You're interrupting my dream!"

"But Mr Davenport and Douglas were arguing upstairs—about our mom! Don't you wanna know what they said?!"

As soon as the words left her mouth, Adam's eyes snapped open and jumped out of his capsule—literally, jumped. "Who's ready to party?!" The bionic yelled excitedly as he started jumping up and down, giddily.

"What?! No, no, Adam!" Bree struggled to control her brother, but managed to do so anyway. "Now, where does Davenport keep all of his important documents? In his drawers or cabinets?"

"Neither. He won't keep notes about Mom there" Adam replied, "It'd be too obvious. He'd either keep them hidden away somewhere—which isn't possible, considering we're breaking stuff every day, so we would've found it by now—or keep them in plain sight."

"How do you know this?" Bree asked, astonished.

"I used to play Treasure Hunt when we were younger. Chase sometimes played me. It was really fun." The oldest bionic explained. There was a moment of silence for a few minutes before Bree spoke up again.

"Okay," Bree sighed, tiredly, "I'll take a quick look around the lab. Can you search Mr Davenport's computers and try to find something?"

"Well, I'm no Chase, but I guess I can try." Adam had the started typing away on the computers as Bree sped around the lab and stopped after a minute or two. The oldest bionic glanced at his sister and noticed she was clutching what appeared to be some sort of book. "What's that?" He asked, curiously.

"When I searched the lab, I found this hidden in plain sight in one of the shelves," Bree explained. She had then opened the book, started reading and gasped.

"What is it?"

"Adam…I think this is a diary" Bree admitted, as she kept her eyes on the journal. It was impossible to look away from it.

"From when you were younger? Gross."

"What?! No! Adam, I-I think this is our mother's diary"

This had caught the oldest bionic's attention and he glanced over at his sister, worried yet hopeful. "Does it say anything about her?" He questioned, "Is there a name, an initial, a signature, anything?"

Bree flipped through the pages, quickly scanning them as she did so. "All of these are unfinished," She commented, "The last one she wrote was in 1999. That's the year Chase was born."

"What does it say?" The oldest bionic asked.

"It says…

This will be the last day I see Douglas, Adam, Bree and Chase.

I want to stay with them, but I just can't. It's not that I won't, but I really can't.

With everything that's happened the past year, and everything we've been going through…

It'll be hard for them, but I know it's the best thing for all of us.

I have to protect them. No matter what.

Take care of them for me, Dougie—if you ever read this, that is.

I love you, guys.

And that's it" Bree finished, "There was one more letter, but it was torn out."

"Sounds like she really cared about us," Adam spoke softly.

"But what was she protecting us from?" Bree questioned, "That's the part that makes me really curious."

"Bree," Adam inquired, "D-Do you think someone was after her?"

"I-I really can't be sure, Adam," the bionic girl answered, "But I do know she loved us very much and did what she did to protect us from any danger she could."

"Adam? Bree? You guys still awake?" Donald's voice rang out.

"We have something to tell you guys" Douglas' voice added. The two siblings glanced at each other and the voices got closer. The elevators dinged and within the two seconds they had, Bree sped to put the journal away and the two hopped in their capsules, their eyes shut.

"They're asleep" the two heard Donald say.

"Donnie, it's too late now" Douglas replied.

"I guess you're right, Dougie" Bree had then heard footstep and watched as the two adults left the lab and went back upstairs. That night, Bree went to sleep, with a thousand questions in her mind, but the one that stood out the most was: What on earth could they be hiding from us?


	3. Chapter 3

Bree stood face to face with a woman, her arms crossed. It was blurry, so she couldn't make out the face. "Why did you lie to us?!" She demanded, "Why did you lie to Douglas?!"

"Please,," the woman replied, "You need to understand that—"

"I don't need to understand anything of your point of view," Bree snapped, "You hurt us. You hurt him."

"Just listen to me for a minute, okay?" The woman responded. Before Bree interrupt, the woman continued. "Look, I'm sorry for what I did. I know it was wrong and I'm sorry for that, but I only did it because—"

"Because what?!"

The woman sighed, ready to reveal her intentions. "Because—"

* * *

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

What the? Bree yawned as she opened her eyes and glanced around the lab. It was then she realized that the mysterious beeping came from the alarm Chase had set the other day. Sighing tiredly, she went to turn off the alarm and began to shake Adam awake.

"Adam," Bree whispered tiredly as she shook her brother, "Adam, it's time to wake up."

No sound came from the sleeping bionic.

"Adam, Tasha's making pancakes," Bree whispered. As soon as the words left her mouth, the oldest bionic snapped his eyes open.

"Pancakes?!" He exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly, "What kind?!"

"Chocolate" Bree lied with a smile on her face. She watched as her brother ran upstairs, like a kid on Christmas morning. She had then used her super speed to catch up to him and within a few minutes, the elevator arrived at the main room, where they heard Tasha, Donald and Douglas talking as they stepped out.

"I already filed a missing person's report." Douglas way saying. He had then take a sip of his coffee before continuing, "The police are coming over later to interview each of us for questioning."

"Hey guys," Bree greeted, alerting them of her presence, "Has Chase been found yet?"

"Oh, hello, Bree," Donald had then did a double take and glanced at his daughter again, "Oh, Bree! How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, we just got here" the bionic girl lied, "And you never answered my question…"

"Chase hasn't been found yet, sweetie" Tasha interrupted, "But how about I make you guys breakfast and then afterwards we can go see that new movie? What was it called, again?"

"Finding Dorothy," Adam answered with food in his mouth. He must've picked up an apple while they were talking.

"I think he means Finding Dory," Bree corrected, "Thanks, Tasha. I'm actually going to do my homework now since I have a lot to get done," She had then turned to her older brother and asked, "Adam, would you like to help me?"

"Bree, I don't think that's such a good idea. The last time Adam tried to help you with your homework—which was science—you two almost blew up the lab," Douglas interrupted.

"Yeah," Donald added, "I spent over a thousand dollars replacing half the stuff you broke. If you guys break something this time, it's coming out of your money"

"We'll be careful, Mr. Davenport," Bree said as she rolled her eyes, "It's just history." The middle bionic had then turned around and winked at her brother.

Adam stared back, confused. "Do you have something wrong with your eye?" He asked.

"What? No!" Bree had then stepped on her older brother's foot hard, making him cry out in pain. She had then turned to face the adults. "Oh, no, Adam is injured! He should get some rest!" Bree had then grabbed her brother and lead him out of the room, "Come on, Adam!"

* * *

"Ow!" Adam cried as he and Bree entered the room, "What the heck was that for?!"

"Since Mr. Davenport, Tasha and Douglas are upstairs discussing Chase, we can stay down here and continue searching for information! Now, did you find any important documents in the computer the other night?"

"Uh, maybe? I didn't really have any time to check since Davenport and Dougie came down, but before they did, I saw something about maxed out credit cards and passports." Adam said as he sat down in one of the chairs and started twiddling his thumbs.

Bree started typing away when a bright blue box came up on the screen with the words, "Password." She groaned, annoyed. "Any chance Mr. Davenport told you his password?" Bree asked, though she already knew the answer.

"Try money" Adam answered.

Bree typed it in. "Didn't work" she said a second later.

"Cash."

There was a moment of silence before the computer beeped again. "Didn't work."

Suddenly, Adam smiled as he came up with an idea. "Wait, what's the name of that Justin Bieber song again?" He asked.

"What?" Bree glanced back at her brother, confused. "Why? Which one?"

"The one from his Purpose album. Came out on November 9th last year. What was it called?"

"Uh," Bree paused for a minute before coming up with the answer, "Love Yourself?"

Adam's face lit up with happiness. "Yes! Type that in!"

"Um, okay." There was another moment of silence and then the computer beeped again. "We're in!" Bree exclaimed as she high-fived her brother. She had then began typing rapidly and found what Adam was talking about.

"Wow, this is a lot of stuff," Bree stated as she read through the receipt of the credit card, "Plane tickets, contacts, long distance calls...This equals up to thousands of dollars. Why would Mr. Davenport need all this stuff?"

"Well, last time Douglas tried to kidnap us, he used Mr. Davenport's credit card for a speed boat, shampoo, contact lenses and hair dye. I wouldn't be surprised if this was him again."

"B-But this doesn't make any sense!" Bree protested, "There has to be a reason for this!"

"Bree, sometimes we don't always get what we deserve. Maybe it's better it doesn't make sense."

"And where did you get that?"

"Dr. Seuss"

"Dr. Seuss never said that though."

"Well, somebody did."

"Guys, are you down here?" The two bionic teens turned around as they saw Donald enter the lab and sigh in relief as he found them. "There you guys are! Come on upstairs, the police are waiting for us. Bree, you're up first."

The two teens exchanged worried glances and followed Davenport upstairs. 'Oh boy,' Bree thought as she approached the officers, 'This cannot be good.'


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you Bree Davenport?" The officer asked, as Bree entered the room.

"Y-yes," Bree said, shuddering.

"We have some questions to ask about your brother, Chase." The officer replied.

"What are they?" Bree asked.

"First off, when did you last see him?" The officer interrogated.

"Uh, 2 days ago?" Bree guessed. To be fair, Chase's disappearance had made her lose track of time.

" And why did he leave? Abuse? Sadness?"

"Nothing like that. I just mentioned our biological mother."

"Why was that a bad thing? Did she betray your family?"

"She just disappeared. I was so little, I barely remember her."

"The reason not to talk about her was a good one then?"

"I...yes. She broke my dad's heart."

"You look kind of like a woman we found your brother stalking. Was that your mother?"

"Yes, of course it was. Chase must have run away to find her."

"So that's the only reason he left? Interesting. We have him in custody."

"You should let him go. He simply went to find his mother."

"We will look into it. Thanks for the insight, Ms. Davenport. You are free to go."

Bree snuck away to her capsule, hoping that her answers were enough to get Chase out of trouble.

00000000000000000000000000

Later that night, Bree ran out of her capsule to Douglas' room.

"Douglas, wake up!" Bree goaded.

"What do you want?" Douglas asked.

"I need to ask about Mom-" Bree began.

"No can do," said Douglas.

"I want to know what happened the last night you saw her." Bree said.

"Well, here we go..." Douglas said.

 **Flashback-Douglas' POV**

"Honey, I'm home!" I exclaimed, greeting my wonderful wife Christiana. I had a surprise I couldn't wait to share with her. Two tickets for a birthday trip to Hawaii! To my surprise, Christiana answered in a strange way, "Are Adam, Bree, and Chase okay?"

"Yes, of course," I replied. "Why would our little joys not be?" I was very worried, especially for the children I was going to turn into bionic soldiers one day.

"I might be in some deep trouble," Christiana replied.

"Wait, why?" I asked, terrified.

"Well, you know my ocean voyages..." Christiana began, starting to cry. Christiana was exaggerating-she was a marine biologist, who often went to islands to do her work. I nodded.

"Yeah, we were looking for an antique golden horse statue, but it wasn't there..." Christiana said.

"So what did you do?" I asked. "Is it that one sitting on our mantle that we got several months ago?"

"Well, actually I made a papier-mâché fake, and fooled everyone." Christiana admitted.

"Where is that now?" I asked.

"Stop interrupting, Douglas," Christiana said. "Anyways, I ended up finding the real antique horse at the local antique shop..."

"Yes, you bought it there! Get to the point!" I exclaimed.

"Oh? You want to take that tone with me, or let me finish the story?" Christiana snapped.

"Er, finish the story," I said.

"So, I decided to compare my papier-mâché version to the real thing. Then, I ran into a woman with my exact hair, eye color, nose, chin, physique, and height. She introduced herself as Tricia Thomas, an employee at the shop. She asked to see my replica and took it and my bag into the back, after saying I was really talented. I went to the bathroom, then came back. However, I found my bag and no sign of Tricia anywhere. I then went home, and placed the real horse on the fireplace mantel. The next day, I found it was the real one, and cancelled our newspaper subscription when I saw I had been framed for a crime I did not commit by Tricia, no doubt." Christiana finished.

"Maybe if you weren't in marine biology, this whole thing wouldn't have happened!" I grumbled.

"Don't insult my job, you self-obsessed Davenport!" Christiana screamed, threw off her wedding ring.

"I am not selfish!" I yelled. "So what if I want to be better than my brother?"

"What about our children?" Christiana asked.

"Of course I care about them!" I half-lied.

"Then you know why we move around so much? Cause I'm a wanted woman! And now, they've finally found me." Christiana said, pointing out the window at approach police cars.

"Honey, we can work it out!" I assured her.

"Don't you ever call me honey or Chrissy again!" Christiana yelled, grabbing the horse.

"But don't you love me?" I asked.

"Of course I do!" She exclaimed.

"What are you doing with that horse?" I asked.

"I'm going to destroy it!" Christiana yelled.

"Why have you suddenly gone crazy?" I asked.

"It's not that! I've been discovered! I must leave you and the kids! Start a new life so I am never found!" Christiana said, slapping me across the face. Carrying the horse, she ran out of the house.

"Christiana, come back!" I yelled. I then chased her, with the police on our tale. She finally arrived at the beach, dropping the horse and sprinting into the ocean.

"Christiana! No!" I exclaimed, a sudden change coming over me. Feelings of ruthlessness came over me. From the loss of my wife, I had become a new individual. I myself was a criminal, having housed one for months. As the police came to investigate, I ran off, clutching both the purse and wedding ring of my wonderful wife as a sole reminder of who I used to be.

 **End Flashback**

"That was a sad story, wasn't it, Bree? Bree?" Douglas asked, realizing Bree was fast asleep. He put her into her capsule, and went back to his own room.

00000000000000000000000000

The next morning, the entire family gathered for a strangely silent breakfast. This silence was mainly due to the anticipation for Chase to return, as Douglas had worked everything out with the police. Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it, maybe it's Chase." said Tasha, getting up to unlock the door. A strange woman with wavy brown hair like Bree's stood at the doorway.

"What do you need?" Tasha asked.

"I'm looking for Douglas Davenport. My name's Christiana Henderson. I'm his wife." The woman said. Upon hearing this, Douglas fell over, his eyes rolling back in his head.


	5. Chapter 5

Christiana ran over to Douglas.

"Honey, are you okay?" Christiana asked.

Douglas opened his eyes. Yes, the woman definitely resembled Christiana. But there was something off, maybe her cheekbones and eyebrows.

"Is it really you?" Douglas asked.

"Yes, of course it's me," Christiana replied.

"You look kind of different," Douglas said.

"Ha ha," Christiana laughed. "That's because I ended up in Africa after boarding a rescue ship. An elephant stomped on my face while I traveled, so I got plastic surgery."

"Wow," Leo said. "Why did you come back?"

"Well, after being rescued, I suffered from amnesia, but the second I got my memory back, I realized I had to come see my favorite man, and my three kids, Adam, Bree, and Charles." Christiana explained. "Speaking of which, where is Charles?"

"It's Chase," Bree reminded her. Bree then glanced out the window. To her surprise, she saw Chase making his way towards the house. "There he is, getting home from work."

"I'm sorry, honey." Christiana said. "It's due to the amnesia."

"Your voice isn't quite as I remember, either." Douglas said.

"Well, I'm sorry to admit it, but I was addicted to smoking for a couple years, and it changed my voice." Christiana explained.

"Would you like to join us for breakfast, Mom?" Bree asked.

"I would...love too." Christiana said, after a moment of thinking it over.

"Great, because I have a few questions for you." Bree said. "I have to do a school project involving my parents."

"Well, luckily, I'm your mother," Christiana said, sitting down. The doorbell then rang.

"I'll get it," Bree said. She headed over to the door, and there was Chase.

"Hello, Chase," said Bree awkwardly. "Why'd they let you off the hook?"

"Well, it was a fairly innocent reason, even though I am mad at you for talking about her." Chase replied. "Who's the strange woman talking with everyone?"

"That's our mother," Bree said. "Doesn't she look familiar?"

"Yes, kinda." Chase admitted.

"Guys, I got Chase here!" Bree exclaimed.

"Why'd you have to tell them?" Chase whispered.

"What else could we have done, hidden you behind the couch?" Bree asked.

"Welcome back, Chase!" Douglas said, running over to him.

"Er, hi, Douglas. Bree. Mr. Davenport. Adam. Leo. Tasha. And...Mom." Chase said.

"Chase, nice to meet you. Wait, what's Adam doing?" Christiana said.

"He seems to be plowing around in your bag of mushrooms." Bree said.

"Adam, stop!" Christiana exclaimed.

"Sorry, Mom." Adam said, backing away.

"I need to interview you, Mom," Bree said.

"You go right ahead." Christiana smiled.

"Anyways, where were you born? What were your parents named? How was your childhood?" Bree asked.

"My parents were named Edward and Francine Henderson. I was born June 6th, 1966. My childhood was quite rough, because I lost my parents at a young age." Christiana said.

"You never told me that, not even when we met at that..." Douglas began.

"School dance," Christiana reminded him, although it sounded more like a question. Donald took Christiana's bag of mushrooms into the kitchen.

"Just going to get dessert," Donald said, stuffing Christiana's mushrooms into some the ice cream, which he then brought to the table.

"Oh, I love ice cream," Christiana said, taking a bite, only to suddenly feel sick. "I need to go lie down now."

"But what about the interview?" Bree asked.

"Can't we focus on that later?" Christiana moaned.

"There's a spare cot in Leo's room." Donald said, as Christiana went to rest.

"Did you poison her?" Douglas asked.

"No, she's probably just exhausted from her travels." Donald replied.

"Bree, how about you use the little information you now know to start the project?" Douglas asked.

"I still can't believe we're talking about her now." Chase said.

"Well, why not?" Douglas asked. "We are seeing her in the flesh."

Who ever this woman is, Chase thought, I don't like her.

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That afternoon, after Bree had started compiling her project, Christiana walked into her room.

"Hey, Mom." Bree said. "Want to tell me some more about yourself?"

"Actually, um, whatever happened to that horse I had?" Christiana asked.

"Well, it shattered into a million pieces, Douglas then ran off with the pieces and put it back together weeks later, it's currently downstairs on our fireplace mantel." Bree explained.

"Okay, thank you." said Christiana, starting to walk away.

"Wait, I found your old diary. Why are their so many unfinished entries?" Bree asked.

"If you found my diary, why interview me in the first place?" Christiana asked.

"Because I'd like to know your life before 1988, when you met, uh, Dad." Bree said.

"If you must know, I was a juvenile delinquent. Until the age of ten anyway. Then, I let myself get adopted, but I kept my

motto of lying, cheating, stealing, and killing." Christiana said.

"Why would you? That doesn't make any sense!" Bree screamed.

"You can't tell me how to act, missy!" Christiana yelled.

"But why talk to me like that? I'm your daughter!" Bree exclaimed.

"Because I'm your mother, that's why!" Christiana stormed out. Bree then began to suspect something: maybe this woman wasn't her mother after all.


	6. Chapter 6

"Good morning, Bree," Christiana said the next day at breakfast.

"Really? You're just going to start fresh after the argument last night?" Bree asked.

"Bree, be nice to your mother." Douglas said.

"I'm going out for clothes shopping, anyone else want to come?" Tasha asked.

"I'd love to get to know my sister in law," Christiana said.

"I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship," Tasha replied.

"Bree, can I see you for a second?" Chase asked, leading her into the other room.

"What's up, Chase?" Bree asked.

"I'm planning on moving my capsule to the attic." Chase said.

"Oh, can I move there too?" Bree asked.

"Are you crazy?" Chase asked. "I'm the Mission Leader, for crying out loud. I deserve to move up three floors."

"But I'm the only girl, so obviously I get the choice." Bree argued.

"Maybe we can get "Mom" to settle it, when we get home from school." Chase said, making air quotes.

"Chase Leonardo Davenport, don't talk about our mother like she's a fake!" Bree exclaimed, although she believed the same. "Go get ready for school."

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As Bree walked into social studies, Mrs. Hills asked, "How is the project, Bree?"

"Coming along quite nicely. In fact, my mother is actually alive and well. She's a criminal." Bree said.

"Oh my, sorry you have to deal with that." Mrs. Hills said.

"Which is weird, because her diary says nothing of the sort." Bree said. "But oh well, some things are best kept secret...excuse me, but could I visit the library, to print out my pages?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Hills replied. "You have ten minutes."

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After sneaking out in a normal way, Bree sped to the library. However, she was not there for her project. She wanted to look up Trisha Thomas, a name she had heard Douglas mention. Bree had not heard much of his tale, due to being drowsy, but had heard tidbits. She whipped out her mother's diary, searching for the name. As she flipped yet again through the pages, a sepia photo fell out. The photo was of a woman who resembled her mother, but had differently-shaped brown eyes, a smaller mouth, different cheekbones, different ears, and different eyebrows. Putting the photo into the computer scanner and the diary into her backpack, she headed back to class.

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Meanwhile, Tasha and Christiana were getting to know each other.

"So, why did you fall in love with Douglas in the first place?" Tasha asked.

"It was just one of those things, you know, love at first site." Christiana said.

"Why did you really come back?" Tasha asked.

"To find the horse I lost. A sculpture." Christiana said.

"Oh, it's on our fireplace mantel." Tasha replied.

"Thanks, Tasha. I bet you're a very great mother figure to them." Christiana said.

"Well, considering all that horrible stuff you said to your daughter, I'd say that's accurate," Tasha said.

"To be honest, I made that all up as a joke." Christiana said.

"Juvenile delinquency is not funny!" Tasha exclaimed.

"To me, it is." Christiana replied.

"You, my friend, have quite twisted mind." Tasha said.

"Yes, but I really do care for my children. Mind if I move in to your home for a bit?" Christiana asked.

"Why, sure!" Tasha said.

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After school that day, Bree carefully hid the photo under her bed, not even seeing who the computer had identified the mysterious woman as. And maybe if she had, she would've come to a shocking discovery: The woman in the photo wasn't who she thought she was.


	7. Chapter 7

The next three weeks sped by rather quickly. Mrs. Hills was impressed by how Christiana had survived swimming for a whole week, among her other adventures, and gave Bree an A on the assignment. Bree, Adam, Chase, and Leo also studied for exams, with a lot of help from Christiana. In fact, both Bree and Chase had forgotten about the possibility of her not being their mother. Christiana slept in the guest room, while Bree and Chase decided to share the attic. However, things were beginning to get weird in the attic.

"Hello, Bree," Chase said, as they entered the attic bedroom on the first day of summer.

"Isn't this exciting, Chase? We're on summer vacation." Bree asked.

"I agree," said Chase. "Well, I'm going to get ready for bed."

"Well, so am I," Bree said. The two kind of stared awkwardly at each other for two minutes.

"Sharing a room with you has been...weird." Chase said.

"I agree, but I can't figure why." Bree replied.

"Well, I'm a boy, you're a girl, we're teenagers, we share a room, and we're both pretty good looking," Chase said.

"Are you flirting with me?" Bree asked.

"Not gonna tell you," Chase laughed. Bree pulled him in and kissed his lips.

"But we're siblings," Chase said.

"Just saying." Bree said. "That felt good."

"You're right about that," Chase agreed.

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"Adam, I need your help," Leo said.

"But it's summer!" Adam complained.

"This is important, Adam, I've lost my notebook." Leo said.

"Oh, what a crisis!" Adam said, sarcastically.

"You don't understand. It was my detective notebook." Leo explained.

"But how are you solving the mystery without it?" Adam asked.

"I'm cool like that," Leo said.

"Okay, where did you last see it?" Adam asked.

"In the garage," Leo said.

"What garage?" Adam asked.

"Oh, Adam..." Leo sighed. "You've got a lot to learn."

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Bree went down to talk to Christiana.

"Hello, Mom." Bree said, a little reluctant.

"Bree! How pleasant to see you!" Christiana replied.

"I have a problem," Bree admitted.

"A guy problem?" Christiana asked.

"Yes," Bree said.

"Does this guy of yours sleep with anyone?" Christiana asked.

"Yes, with me..." Bree replied, only to see the shocked face her mother was making.

"Nothing like that, Mom, we have our separate ways."

"That's a relief. I can't wait for our vacation to Mexico next week." Christiana said.

"Yeah, it's great having you," Bree lied.

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Adam and Leo finally entered the garage.

"See any sign of it?" Adam asked. All Leo saw was a bag. He emptied its contents.

"A papier-mâché horse?" Leo asked.

"Maybe we could get it to replace the metal one on our fireplace." Adam replied.

"A map of Mission Creek?" Leo asked again.

"Must not have a very good memory." Adam decided.

"A telephone book?" Leo wondered.

"To look up old friends," Adam said.

"Another bag of mushrooms?" Leo questioned.

"She's an explorer," Adam reminded him. "Weird diets."

"A book of plans?" Leo asked.

"Maybe she wants to garden," Adam said.

"A photo of her taken on January 1st, 2000, in Mission Creek?" Leo asked.

"Maybe she was lying about not being here for for 13 years," Adam said.

"Adam, what if she's lying about everything?" Leo asked.

"Why would my Mom be a liar?" Adam asked.

"Look at her face. It looks exactly the same, though a little younger. No evidence she had plastic surgery." Leo described.

"So Douglas simply failed to recognize her?" Leo asked.

"It's not just that, Adam." Leo said. "Douglas didn't recognize her because he had never seen her before."

"So my mom isn't my mom?" Adam asked. "This is just messed up."

"Wait a minute..." Leo said. He remembered Bree hiding a photograph under her capsule pillow. He ran upstairs to get it, as well as the diary. He promptly brought them down and showed them to Adam.

"It clearly says this is Christiana Henderson in December 1999," Leo said. "The way that January 2000 picture looks, however, implies an entirely different person. Yes, they have the same physique, height, hair, chin, nose, eye colors, and prolific views, but other than that, they look nothing alike."

"So she's an impostor?" Adam asked.

"Exactly," Leo said. He began to flip through the diary, and gasped.

"I found your mother's real name."

"What is it?" Adam asked.

Leo took a deep breath. "Tricia Thomas."


	8. Chapter 8

About a week after the discovery, Christiana walked into the living room, only to notice the horse was gone. Tasha was sitting on the couch.

"Tasha, where's the horse?" Christiana asked.

"Oh, Donnie's taking it to an antique auction." Tasha replied.

"I need it!" Christiana exclaimed, running out the door. Douglas then walked in.

"Where's Chrissy going?" Douglas asked.

"To look for some horse she's obsessed with," Tasha replied.

"Oh no. The horse she shattered and I fixed up after I fled the police in '99." Douglas realized.

"I'm not going to question that," Tasha said.

"Well, knowing Christiana, that horse tore us apart in the first place." Douglas explained.

"You think she'll..." Tasha began, but it was hard for her to finish.

"What, buy the horse for herself? While I don't see it's unlikely, I can't possibly fathom how it would benefit her." Douglas replied.

"About Christiana, I've been having nightmares." Tasha said.

"What sort of nightmares?" Douglas asked.

"Nightmares that she killed all the kids, stole all our furniture, and kissed you to make you die." Tasha explained.

"That is one horrible nightmare. But at least it would never happen in real life." Douglas assured her.

"How do you know?" Tasha asked.

"I've known her for 26 years. Christiana would never hurt a fly, steal anything, or lie." Douglas replied.

"But she's about to steal our horse!" Tasha pointed out.

"Good point! We need to get it back." Douglas exclaimed, running to get his car keys.

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"There's something going on here!" Leo exclaimed, as he and Adam entered the attic.

Bree and Chase untangled themselves from each other, jumping back into their capsules. Had Leo and Adam found out about their possible romance?

"No there's not!" Chase exclaimed.

"Yes there is! Look at these photos." Leo said, showing him the first one. "That's Mom," Chase said. "The other one looks like Bree."

"Let me see that," Bree said. "Hmmm, both these women have the same hair, skin tone, chin, physique, ears, eye color, nose, and height as me. Yet, the one who is not Mom shares my cheekbones, head shape, eyebrows, mouth size..." Bree then stopped. The back of the first photo said "Christmas 1999, Christiana Henderson".

"It probably is how she looked before the plastic surgery." Chase pointed out.

"Wait...that wasn't Tricia Thomas?" Bree asked.

"Who's Tricia Thomas?" Chase asked.

"Look closely at the newspapers in this second picture of Mom," Adam said. Chase leaned closer, and got quite a shock: The date was January 10th, 2000.

"Must not be a bad plastic surgery job," Bree said.

"You don't understand," Leo said. "Your mother never got plastic surgery."

"Then why'd she say she did?" Bree asked.

"But she didn't," Leo said.

"Then why did Douglas not recognize her?" Bree asked.

"Because that isn't her who's living with us. Christiana lied." Leo said.

"Then who is she?" Chase asked.

"Tricia Thomas," Adam said. Bree facepalmed.

"Why wasn't it obvious? The lies about juvenile delinquency, the cheating, stealing, killing...now Mrs. Hills will never know the truth." Bree groaned.

"That doesn't matter. What does matter is letting Douglas know that the woman he has been sleeping with for a month is not his wife." Adam said.

"Um, that might be a problem," Chase said.

"Why?" Bree asked.

"Because I heard them discussing an antique store, and from the looks of it... they left already." Chase replied.


End file.
